OSI Systems Profit Up 33 Percent

OSI Systems Inc. on Tuesday said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 33 percent as it saw broad sales growth and improved margins for its security and medical scanners and optical component systems. The company also raised its guidance for the year.

The Hawthorne company reported net income of $6.3 million (31 cents a share) for quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $4.8 million (24 cents a share) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 13 percent to nearly $182 million. The gross margin rose from 32.8 percent to 33.8 percent.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected net income of 29 cents a share on revenue of $182 million.

“We had an impressive first quarter where we not only delivered overall revenue growth of 13 percent, but also achieved double-digit growth at each of our divisions in security, healthcares and optoelectronics,” Chief Executive Deepak Chopra said during a conference call.

As of the end of the quarter, OSI’s backlog jumped 239 percent to $1.1 billion, much of that from its Rapiscan division, which makes cargo, people and other security scanners and provides “turn-key” screening services at locales ranging from the Mexican border to the London Summer Olympics. Revenue was up 14 percent there.

OSI raised its fiscal 2013 earnings guidance and expects adjusted earnings per share to increase at a rate of 21 percent to 31 percent to between $2.77 and $3 a share. It earlier expected 20 percent to 29 percent growth in earnings per share to $2.75 to $2.95.

Separately, the Transportation Security Administration announced today that it was moving older full-body scanners, some of which were sold by OSI in 2009, to smaller airports in an effort to speed up passenger screening at the nation’s busiest airports. OSI has baggage scanners at several U.S. airports that were not affected by the announcement. A company spokesman said OSI did not sell any of its current models to the TSA in fiscal 2012.

Cargo screening and screening services, as well as medical scanners, which saw 11 percent revenue growth, are seen as bigger potential markets for the company. Its optoelectronics and manufacturing division, which provides components to other manufacturers, saw sales increase 12 percent.